Adoption inquiry backs same-sex couples

Same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt, a NSW inquiry has recommended to the state government.

The Adoption Act should be amended to allow same-sex couples the right to adopt, the NSW Law and Justice Committee has found in a narrow split of three to four votes.

The final report, released to the public on Wednesday, made further recommendations that faith-based adoption agencies be granted exemptions from directly assisting same-sex couples, though they should be required to refer couples onto an agency that could.

Committee chair Christine Robertson, who cast the deciding vote, acknowledged the issue had been a divisive one.
This inquiry was challenging as it encompassed not only legal issues concerning the rights of children and those of adults with respect to anti-discrimination, but also moral and belief-based views about the best interests of children and the role of the family, she said.

The committee has concluded that reform to allow same-sex couples to adopt will help to ensure that the best interests of children are met by our adoption laws. It will do so by enabling legal recognition for existing parent-child relationships, by broadening the pool of applicants from which the most appropriate parents are selected.

The NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby welcomed the recommendations and called on the Rees Government to act promptly once it reconvenes in September.

We are delighted that the majority of the committee accepted our argument that each individual should be assessed on their capacity to provide a safe and loving home to a child, not on their sexual orientation, GLRL co-convenor Emily Gray said.

3 Comments

good point guys
bt yes we ahve to write letters, ask straight suppoets to write letters, and really get this on a federal level up there, so it doesnt matters…. any one knows of any campaign to act before the senate federal enquiry?

Paul Mitchell has raised an issue that bears consideration and which has not been discussed on this forum.

I do not know if the inferences and implications made by Paul Mitchell are correct but I would like to draw readers’ attention to the dynamics underlying his comments.

In NSW it is possible for minority groups to get a representative elected to the NSW Legislative Council and those elected members can compromise with the majority party in parliament for the benefit of their minority group.

The examples are, Fred Nile’s minority group, The Greens, The Shooters party. All those minority groups got a representative elected to the State Upper House and those representatives had made compromises with the majority party in parliament for the benefit of their members.

If those minority groups can do it so can the gay community.

We can form a political party and get a member or two members elected to the NSW Legislative Council and make compromises with the majority party in parliament for the benefit of our minority group.

Fred Nile is getting in the way of long-over due reform in this area, which has been proposed since 1997. Fred Nile has made deals with Rees to pass other legislation in the upper House, if Rees continue to ban adoption rights for same-sex couples. “Rees is acting like a puppet to please the far right-wing bigotery from Nile, despite Rees being from the far-left”!!!